• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Foundation Document Overview Bluestone National Scenic River West

Contact Information For more information about the Bluestone National Scenic River Foundation Document, contact: [email protected] or 304-465-0508 or write to: Bluestone National Scenic River, P. O. Box 246 Glen Jean, WV 25846-0246 Purpose Significance

Significance statements express why Bluestone National Scenic River resources and values are important enough to merit national park unit designation. Statements of significance describe why an area is important within a global, national, regional, and systemwide context. These statements are linked to the purpose of the park unit, and are supported by data, research, and consensus. Significance statements describe the distinctive nature of the park and inform management decisions, focusing efforts on preserving and protecting the most important resources and values of the park unit.

1. As one of the few undammed rivers within the eastern United States, the Bluestone National Scenic River exhibits a natural hydrology that supports a diversity of aquatic and riparian habitats and biological communities due to its variable and seasonal flow regime.

2. The Bluestone gorge is characterized by an expansive continuum of unfragmented river-to-rim forest. The forest surrounding the Bluestone National Scenic River contributes The purpose of the Bluestone National to the larger, globally significant forest system that also Scenic River is to preserve the free- encompasses the New River Gorge National River and Gauley flowing waters of the , River . This type of unfragmented the primitive character and outstanding forest system is uncommon throughout much of the eastern scenic qualities of the gorge, and a United States, and supports rare and federally threatened species, as well as 22 riparian and upland plant communities, diverse assemblage of natural resources 8 of which are globally rare. endemic to the Central Appalachian Mountains, while providing for the 3. The Bluestone National Scenic River contains a state wildlife benefit and enjoyment of present and management area that features an abundant variety of fish, future generations. wildlife, and game species, providing important public opportunities for traditional recreation uses such as hunting, fishing, and trapping in a rich scenic landscape that is largely primitive and undeveloped.

4. The geography of the Bluestone River Gorge, with its flat bottomlands, provided an easily navigable landscape that was one of the oldest corridors that American Indians and early settlers used to travel through the Appalachian Mountains, affording linkages to the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers. Fundamental Resources and Values Interpretive Themes

Fundamental resources and values are those features, systems, Interpretive themes are often described as the key stories processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or or concepts that visitors should understand after visiting other attributes determined to merit primary consideration a park—they define the most important ideas or concepts during planning and management processes because they are communicated to visitors about a park unit. Themes essential to achieving the purpose of the park and maintaining are derived from—and should reflect—park purpose, its significance. significance, resources, and values. The set of interpretive themes is complete when it provides the structure necessary • Biological Diversity for park staff to develop opportunities for visitors to explore • The Bluestone River and relate to all of the park significances and fundamental resources and values. • Historic Travel Corridor and Associated Cultural Resources • Diverse and unfragmented forests, extremes in topography and elevation, and the wild, free-flowing waters of the • Recreation Opportunities Bluestone River provide for a great diversity of plant and • Undeveloped Primitive Character animal species.

• The Bluestone corridor has provided a pathway that connects people and cultures through place and time.

• The Bluestone River Gorge provides a refuge for plants and animals displaced from warmer and lower elevation ecosystems, and will become more vital as global climates change.

• The isolated, primitive character of the Bluestone River Gorge allows people to experience scenic landscapes that have been relatively untouched through time, providing opportunities for solitude and reflection while affording a glimpse into the geologic and historic past. North 0 5 ilometers National Par Rapids npaved road 0 5 iles Service area

SRSV

6 r 3 WF e v i ixie e 2 NGN R e

r R

s Summersville r e

e l

t ae u

Swiss e aon a ranc Belva Jodie CARNIFEX FERRY BATTLEFIELD STATE PARK 3 River uley a 4 o min

Ga r aiatr r e e e v 2 i oo ount Nebo R rr e S l u u I n a da Ro ad Gaule I CI

d Bridge a 4 o e R a 6 d ad o 60 a Ro d HAWKS NEST r R e u n iv r t w iller iv R a o d e 60 STATE PARK S t a r g o Ridge n R NS i Road r a t a Victor S d n u S a n S Railroad a ico otton ill aws Nest 60 am 5 6 mes eights ir Canon im iitor Cntr or ri ansing 82 Faette Station Road dmond ooout 82 FV ttar d Winona R amoor e e e r 6 in it enes eado N

R e e CAMP re w i WASHINGTON v e CARVER r l lifftop o 6 d a o R ann unard s ewood ree Gat Description BABCOCK 60 O roon R i STATE PARK v rit RN e r i inden 4 S 62 hurmond R Bluestone National Scenic River is a unit of theail rnationaload park More than 700 species of plants grow in several diverse nn lum Whipple system, rcardand is also a part of the national wild and scenic Appalachian forest habitat types along the river. The park 6 rmon itoric itrict 20 rivers system. ae The national wild and scenic rivers system provides excellent opportunities for watching many mammal, nlou Du re e 25 ton Ciff protectsPLUM ORCHARDrivers throughout the country that are free-flowing bird, amphibian, reptile,anese and insect species. The riverbed c WILDLIFE and possess “outstandinglyGlen remarkable” Jean scenic, natural,e habitat is alive with a carpet of macro-invertebrate aquatic n MANAGEMENT dree e Road ad cultural,AREA geological, and recreational values. The headwaters species, supports healthy populationsow of many warm water SUMMIT BECHTEL B

r FAMILY NATIONAL i of the Bluestone River6 begin at an elevation of 3,500 feet game and nongame fishes, andd is classified as a “high quality SCOUT RESERVE g e on East River Mountain near Bluefield, Virginia, and flowhaer warm water stream” by the state of . R ON OP d for 77 miles to near Hinton, West Virginia, 4 Do 3 d The bottomland ree within the gorge of the Bluestone was first at 1,409 feet. The lower 10.5 miles of the Bluestone River, r l 6 rm usede by American Indians. In the late 1700s the Lilly, Meadow, cutting through an impressive and biologically diverse gorge, r Cam u rani a has been designated as Bluestoneerr National ScenicPrince River,anar and Farley families built homesteads along the river. Historical I eadow Bridge and is bordered by two state parks and a public fishinguinnimont area. records from the 18th century indicate that the route up the cCrr 4 I I Pipestem Resort State Park provides a year-round resort Bluestone River and Little Bluestone River was an American

ree 64 S R o

o a Indian trail that later becamed the Giles, Fayette, 20and Kanawha type facility 6and offers a variety ioflro a

l ad e l

rani 64 R TurnpikeN that passes through modern-day Beckley and e a Cr recreationalo opportunities. Thee responsibility of protecting e re e r w a d Fayetteville, West Virginia. At the of the Bluestone 4 ll R e Bluestone National Scenic River is shared betweeni the i n v anton i e

eadow and Little Bluestoner Rivers, theiitor community Cntr of LillyGreen once Sulphur National Park Service, West Virginia State Parks, and ther ee ree Spring amarac flourished. The Bluestone Turnpike, a riverbank road used West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. A sectione of d ao Cr a Raleigh ount a by those who farmed and timbered the area until theic 1940s, rp l Bluestone Nationaler Scenic Riveremorial lies irport within the boundaries r 3 e is used today by visitors to the park. Time spent in thoughtfule of PipestemR Resort State Park, and the remaining portion is d 4 B 64 an solitude along this little mountain river offers the visitor a also a West Virginiaaw Wildlife Management Area. Bluestone Sandstone Falls Sandstone F ha a St et vestige of primitive America. The Bluestone Turnpike Trail, Dam, located6 ont ethe S New River, impounds 2.4 miles of the64 a t ur 30 el 30 which follows the river for nine miles from r the Mountain Creek Bluestone River. ittle ee Beaver Lodge (at the base of the tram at Pipestem Resort State Park) Beaver aniels 26 The Bluestone River,64 named for the deep blueae limestone to Bluestone State Park, is open for hiking, biking, and horses. R iv LITTLE BEAVER er streambed of its upper reaches in Virginia, has created a gorge Opportunities for canoeing R and kayaking are usually limited to STATE PARK oa 1,000 feet deep. The rugged and ancient gorge is a richly diverse spring and early summer,d dependingBroos on water levels. and scenic area of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Shad Spring 20

lade ree Cr Reservoir icmon amiton arm a o d am ll r R o 3 r ee i a ne d NON 0

3 reen rie r

r d R e Bellepoint R e i v e g BLUESTONE e 3 John d r i enr R STATE PARK onument on lis Ghent ive l one R r Flat o st e ae lu B

le tt i B S

Bluestone N

River Road

20 2 er v i I R BLUESTONE e CIC I n o WILDLIFE st e MANAGEMENT lu B AREA New R Pipestem ive r CAMP CREEK

e e r STATE FOREST PIPESTEM RESORT

n STATE PARK ia d CAMP CREEK n STATE PARK